Warriors grant a long-time fan her dying wish

Loretta Kalama got her dying wish.

Her son, Ed, shared that with the University of Hawaii football team — in eternal gratitude, and with the hope it might inspire the Rainbow Warriors to more victories — in the form of a thank you letter.

“I’ll probably keep that letter forever,” said UH coach Nick Rolovich, who read it to his team Saturday, before Hawaii played its home opener, a 41-18 victory over Western Carolina at Aloha Stadium. “I felt like it was meaningful enough that they needed to hear it because our guys, they don’t always know that they mean a lot to a lot of people.

“They felt it.”

Loretta was 82 and had battled cancer the last two years. It ate away her kidneys. Then she had surgery for breast cancer. Eventually, Loretta decided to stop with the painful chemotherapy treatments.

About a month ago she was in hospice and it was expected she would live for just another week, maybe two.

But she fought on with the hope of seeing one final UH game, since the season was to start Aug. 26.

Loretta made it, and the Rainbows came through for her with a win.

She died Sunday, Aug. 27, just a few hours after she had raised her arms and clapped her hands in jubilation. Her final wish had been granted: UH beat Massachusetts 38-35.

“She then told her kids she loved them, to not fight with each other, and that she was really going to miss them,” Ed Kalama wrote in his letter to Rolovich and the Warriors. “Early the next night, she breathed her last breath, and she was gone.”

Loretta’s tenure as a UH football fan predated Aloha Stadium. She saw the ’Bows play at Honolulu Stadium, the old Termite Palace.

“She was there in the ’70s when Reinhold Stuprich kicked five field goals and UH beat BYU 15-14,” Ed wrote.

“She was there in the ’80s when Dick Tomey’s boys gave every big name they played a run for their money.

“She was there when UH finally beat BYU after a decade of losing. She was there in the ’90s at the Holiday Bowl when UH beat Illinois, sitting in the stadium in San Diego. And she was there when Nick Rolovich threw eight touchdown passes and smoked the hated BYU Cougars. She was even there in New Orleans when UH had its finest moment in the national spotlight at the Sugar Bowl in the 2000s.”

Loretta was a season-ticket holder for 30 years. But recently, she had become too frail to attend games. She remained so loyal, though, that she bought the Pay-Per-View package for this season, knowing she would likely die before she could watch the first game for which there was a charge.

The UMass game broadcast was free, but her bedroom television didn’t have the necessary cable access. Ed and his siblings originally planned to move her to the living room. That proved difficult, so they set their mom up with an iPad so she could watch via digital stream.

The streaming was inconsistent, “so we went old school and brought in a radio,” Ed said.

“Her kids gathered around her and we listened to the end of the football game. … I’ve got to believe they did it for her.”

UH slot receiver Dylan Collie said the letter was a good reminder for the team that they are not just playing for themselves or even each other — and that the most loyal fans are the ones who have been around the longest.

“When we’re noticed in public as the University of Hawaii football team, it’s not the 20-year-olds, it’s not the 30-year-olds, it’s not even the 40-year-olds, who tell us what we mean to this state,” Collie said. “It’s the 60- to 80-year-old people who are quick to raise their hands and say, ‘Hey, you guys are the UH Rainbow Warriors, we’re proud of you and you mean a lot to us, go out and give ’em hell.”

Loretta’s story made Collie think of his grandfather, Eugene Norman, who died in 2005.

“He was my best friend,” Collie said. “That struck a chord with me, that lady’s situation and knowing the way my grandparents feel about football, and all the love and support.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.